glossary of internet terms - l

A COMPLETE LIST OF DEFINITIONS OF THE TERMS USED THROUGHOUT OUR WEBSITE

Use the letters below to jump to a particular section or scroll down through the definitions.

misc A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

LAN Local Area Network - Describes two or more computers connected, either physically or wirelessly, with the ability to share resources, such as printers.

Laser printer - A type of printer that produces high-quality text and graphics using a laser beam. The beam builds up characters and images as tiny dots on a rotating drum. The drum then attracts ink powder (toner) to these dots. This is then transferred and heat-fused to paper.

Launch - To start up a program, such as Microsoft Word or Excel, by clicking on its icon or selecting it from the Windows Start menu.

Layers - In image-editing, the equivalent of multiple sheets of glass heaped on top of the drawing canvas. You can draw onto any layer, then change the order, hide them and so on.

LCD (liquid-crystal display) - Technology used to create low-power, slim display panels. Used in everything from digital watches to flat-screen monitors.

LED - Light Emitting Diode. A low-power electronic device that emits light when an electric current is passed through it.

Legend - A translation of the symbols or colours used in a chart.

Lens flare - A special effect which produces a circular flare of light.

Li-ion - Short for lithium-ion, which is a sophisticated type of rechargeable battery used in many portable computers and mobile phones. Li-ion cells offer good weight:life ratio and, unlike earlier battery technologies, do not suffer from the so-called 'memory' effects- allowing them to be recharged in haphazard fashion without detriment.

Link (or hyperlink) - An object on a web page that, when clicked, takes you to another web page. Both text and graphics can be links.

Linux - An operating system that runs on a variety of computers (including PCs) and can be freely modified and distributed by its users. It was developed by Linus Torvalds.

Lithium polymer - An expensive type of battery that, for the time being, you'll only see on the most expensive portable devices. Polymer cells can be moulded into unusual shapes, making them suitable for all manner of applications.

Low-band - A standard videotape format, such as VHS, VHS-C or Video 8.

LPT1 (abbreviation for line printer) - Nowadays more commonly called a parallel port, this a connector at the back of a PC originally developed to connect a printer to the computer. All sorts of devices, like Zip drives and scanners, now make use of this port. A second parallel port will be called LPT2.

LS-120 - An advanced but little-used version of a standard floppy disk drive, capable of storing 120Mb of data on a single disk.

Lumen - A way of measuring brightness.
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